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ITV Report

6 March 2012 at 4:50pm

Heywood alleged sex abuse

Liverpool Crown Court Photo:

A teenager allegedly targeted by a child sexual exploitation gang in Heywood told court she would sometimes drink a litre of neat vodka "in one sitting" with the older men. But the girl, aged 13 when the alleged abuse began says she wasn't a victim and a "relationship" with one of the defendants.

Eleven men are on trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged with conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with five girls under the age of 16. All deny the charges.

Today the girl giving evidence - who had an abortion at the age of 13, also told the jury that her relationship with the men led to her to "study" the Koran and that she even had her own English translation.

One the defendants whom the girl is alleged to have slept with is Abdul Qayyum.

Today, Phillip Boyd, defending Qayyum, questioned whether she was mistaken in identifying his client and asked her about how much she would drink on these occasions.

He said: "There would be occasions when you would be drinking a litre of vodka at one sitting?"

"Yeah", said the girl, who was giving evidence via a video link.

"Neat vodka?"

"Yeah," she replied.

The girl, who is now 16, said she was drinking heavily "three or four times a week".